Saturday, 10 September 2011

Dave, this one's for you

During these past few ahem, several months, as you know I have been trying to find an agent for my book. This now has become an obsession. I can admit to you, right now, that this is what I think about 99.9% of my day. Eating, sleeping, doing the wash: these are all obstacles in the way of my pursuit of finding the right agent at the right time.

So during my travels through the Internet, with all its forums and blogs and Q & As and inspirational quotes, I have come across this. It is the best. The. Best.

Because it's opened my eyes. Not only is this my struggle: it is my significant other's as well. He's probably thinking to himself right now, I didn't bargain for this. I didn't choose this girl to be a terror. An obsessive, annoying, unstoppable terror.

And this is true.

But I never thought there could be a survival guide to caring for a writer. Have a look.

Pretty much every single thing on it, poor Dave has been through. And you know, all this time I have been terribly selfish in thinking that this was my not-so-silent and miserable fight. Mine alone.

I should give credit where credit's due. He has been my plot analyst, my editorial committee, my inspirational pep-talker when things get low. He has listened, single-handedly, to my "unhealthy knowledge of publishing trends." He is always there when I need him, through this horrible, destructive process.

Perhaps I shall print it up, laminate it, and put it on his desk. That will surely give him hope that we can survive the bludgeonings of chance (i.e. another rejection slip. They are papering my walls now and I've created quite a nice chiaroscuro that is slowly taking the shape of a woman typing on a laptop, looking at an anonymous quote on her wall that says, "It's not like you don't have a choice, because you do - you can type or kill yourself.").

A random picture of Edgar Allan Poe. A writer who wrote what he loved, despite publishing trends.

Mostly harmless.

The Reading Room

What's V.L. all about, you ask?

One of my great friends describes me like this: "Here is a writer. Pay attention."
I am thirty-four and I am an American living in England. I love reading and writing. I am also a fan of white zin. I am VERY much enjoying being a first-time mom. I am also a writer of psychological thrillers and repped by the fabulous Jen Marshall at Aevitas Creative Management.